Egarda
Egarda, also known as Kepler-20h, is an Earth-like planet located within the Kepler-20 system. Located 945.5 lightyears from Earth, it was relatively unimportant in the grand scheme of UEG politics, and its position reflected this. It was regarded as a backwater, even though it was one of the small percentages of worlds that could naturally support Human life. Despite this, Egarda was relatively uncomfortable to live on, with average temperatures roughly 10 degrees higher in temperate locations of similar latitude on Earth. In earlier times, it held a massive ocean that covered close to 80 percent of the planet's surface, though current estimates show that for some reason, the ocean to less than a fifth of its original size, leaving once verdant shorelines cracked and dried. In more temperate regions, a smattering of Humans live in tight-knit communities, though they rarely catch the attention of the galaxy at large. Planetary Description Despite being slightly more massive than Earth, Egarda has smaller diameter, only coming in at around 11,200 kilometers. The smaller size is complemented by the density, and the surface gravity reflects both of those factors. Egarda is a warmer world than Earth, possessing temperatures averaging around 300 Kelvin, or approximately 26 degrees Celsius. Though the difference in heat levels is not extreme, it is enough to create more arid temperatures in most equatorial regions. Higher latitudes however experience far more pleasant temperatures, though the rocky nature of the exposed landmass means few locations are prime centers of civilization. These exposed regions are believed to be the remains of a sea floor covered with trenches and cracks in the crust of the planet, indicating that it has geologically active. The presence of volcanoes in a formation not dissimilar to the Ring of Fire supports this observation. Despite this, Egarda possesses less volcanoes than Earth, though makes up for it with several serving as common points of eruption, with a particularly violent example being Mount St.Clark, located near the equator, in what was believed to once be a fault zone at the bottom of the ancient sea. Mount St.Clark takes the form of a shield volcano that has been in a state of constant eruption since 2207, and geological observation of strata around the volcano suggest that this is not the first time that it has undergone such a long eruption, with one streak lasting almost 1200 years in the distant past. The most striking feature about these stretches of ocean are formations of rocks that were believed to be sea-stacks that poked above the ancient ocean. These stacks are massive, islands unto themselves, some of them being kilometers wide. These stacks are positioned high enough above ground level to have much cooler temperatures to encourage plant growth. This has led to the development of cloud forests in the middle of a desert, as trees became protective barriers from wind levels at the altitudes they exist at, and the local ecology evolved over millions of years to become focused on flight. This is generally what Egarda is known for, though the exposed seafloor has allowed for silicate mining operations to take place over the centuries following its colonization. Aside from this, Egarda is a rather metal-poor planet, with most of its bounty being composed of low grade iron and few rare-earth elements. However, coal deposits are of rather high density, suggesting that a massive die-off occurred in the past; an event that may coincide to the receding of the ocean. The peculiar wind-flow of the higher latitudes of the planet allowed for volcanic substances to enrich the soil even thousands of miles away from the infernos of their birth. Human colonists have exploited these lands and formed cities in the calmer, more forested regions of the world. Flora of these locations are tall and willow-like, with drooping branches and leaves that were almost like strands of hair that danced in the wind. Grass is generally stubby and has a lilac shade, though otherwise exhibits no major differences from the green-tinged flora seen on the tops of the sea-stacks. The difference in chemical composition in these areas is likely the cause of this change. Nevertheless, Egarda is able to take Earth-native plant life without complication, and several species of livestock have been successfully introduced into the environment with only little invasive species issues, generally confined to creatures like wolves. Egarda possesses no moons, making the sun the primary gravitational source, though Egarda possesses a rotational time of around 19 hours. One major tide sweeps through what remains of the oceans, and the aforementioned volcanic activity generally is confined to the equator. The planet has an ever-so-slight axial tilt of 5 degrees, meaning that whatever seasons the planet experiences are subtle. This lack of change may also explain the state of the planet's environment. What scientists however are unable to determine is where the water went and why. In 2712, a research initiative was carried out by the Wheatley Institute to discover the reasoning behind the water's evacuation. The initial theory is that an environmental catastrophe like the greenhouse effect evaporated the water, though the planet does not contain nearly the amount of cloud cover required for such an effect to have occurred. The more modern theory is that the water receded into the ground in massive deposits and is now residing in massive aquifers. No additional studies though have further explored this line of reasoning. Behind the Scenes This planet was originally supposed to be Kepler-20f, though my research basically pointed out really quickly that the planet was way too hot to support any form of life at all. So, I decided to change it up so that the planet had a designation that is currently not on our model of the system as of 2019. This makes Egarda somewhat plausible as more discoveries could be made in the future, but as always, the problem with using real examples of astronomy is that people can make discoveries, and in that moment, completely ruin any sense of believably for those planets. A somewhat inhabitable world becomes a 2000-degree stove. List of Appearances * Contagion (First Appearance) Category:Locations Category:Planet